In this article we want to offer you some key aspects to develop a genuine intimacy with God. So that you can enjoy being in the presence of Heavenly Father even more.
How to develop an intimacy with God?
To develop an intimacy with God it is necessary to nourish ourselves spiritually with the goal of reaching the same level of dependence of Jesus with his father. Jesus was intimate because he had the ability to hear, see, and do what his Father said and did.
Jesus with that level of intimacy with God achieved enough authority to move in a miraculous atmosphere. That is why Jesus performed so many miracles and wonders during his ministry here on earth and when he leaves he leaves us a true promise:
John 14:12 (NLT): -I tell you the truth, everyone who believes in me will do the same works that I have done and even greaterBecause I will be with the Father-.
How can we do greater things than Jesus? To opt for this promise of the Lord it is necessary to develop the same intimacy of him with his Father, being simple and obedient. Because Jesus is with the Father and if we are intimate with Jesus, what we ask in his name he will do to glorify God.
John 14:13 (NLT): They can ask anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son gives glory to the Father.
In love, God wants each one of us to develop an intimate and personal relationship with him, he also wants us to be dependent and obedient to his word. In the scriptures we find true examples of intimate men with God as the case of Moses and King David, it is then a decision on our part to want to be like one of them.
Deciding to be close to God
During Jesus' time on earth, he associated with various types of people and with a different level of intimacy. Jesus moved from one place to another through the regions of the Palestinian territory of his time, meeting various types of people.
However, not all those who came to be close were intimate with him, do you know what those regions were in the map of Palestine at the time of Jesus?, discover it with us by entering the link shown above, so you can know the importance of this map in understanding the value of the message and the greatness of the Lord.
Because in this article you will have the opportunity to find out what the political organization, theological doctrines, social groups and even more were like in the times of Jesus. Let us now see what kind of people Jesus associated with during his earthly ministry.
the crowd of people
Jesus developed his earthly ministry preaching in public and during his preaching he was always surrounded by a crowd of people. However, these people approached him looking for what Jesus could give them and not for the interest of knowing the Lord intimately.
The crowd sought only the loaves and fishes, so once their needs were met, most people went about their normal lives.
the religious
The religious were another type of people who approached Jesus when he taught or performed a miracle. These people were the Jewish interpreters of the Law known as the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were full of knowledge and always accused or criticized Jesus based on it. Today it is very common to find this type of person within the church.
The religious within the church hide behind unrevealed spiritual wisdom and false piety. These people usually spend their time criticizing the brothers, sowing discord among them.
However, for Jesus there are no hidden hearts, he knows what truly exists in each one of them. Regarding the religious, we invite you to enter here: False prophets: How to take care of them?
The false prophets are the religious who pretend to have the gift to prophesy and therefore preach false arguments. These claim to have divine gifts that give them authority to perform miracles and actions related to divine entities, since ancient times in all religions there have been false prophets.
The followers
Jesus was followed by many people, some were chosen by him to be his disciples. The disciples differed from all the followers of Jesus by the authority they possessed given by the Messiah, which gave them power.
A power that they exercised in the healing of the sick, liberation of demon-possessed people, evangelizing and even prophesying. But despite this, some of these followers were content with all this and did not try to walk another mile with Jesus.
intimates of Jesus
The scriptures teach us that among those distinguished by Jesus as his disciples or followers, there was one considered intimate and loved by the Lord. This intimate disciple was the apostle John, who leaned on his teacher's chest and consulted his plans.
John 21:20 (NKJV): When Peter turned, he saw that he was following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, the same one who at dinner had reclined next to him, and who had said to him: -Lord, who is the one who will deliver you?-.
All the disciples could reach the same level of intimacy that John had with Jesus. But they made the decision to establish a relationship with Jesus as far as each wanted to go.
Seeing all these types of people we must reflect and know where we will place ourselves. According to the following questions about who we are in Christ Jesus:
- One more person in the middle of the crowd?
- One of the religious, with knowledge but who does nothing to serve the Lord?
- A follower who has the authority and power given by Jesus, but does not have his friendship?
- One of the intimate followers who live according to their Beloved?
On this occasion we are being called by Christ to lean on his chest. We are being called to make a decision to be an intimate of the Lord in an intimacy with God.
For this, let us ask the Lord to fill us with desire, the desire to know him more and in depth, the desire to love him with all our being and to be able to give every last breath of our lives to do what pleases God. Because an intimate of Christ Jesus is one who only lives to fulfill the dreams of the loved one.
Intimacy with God with Jesus Christ as the only intermediary
The mediation in God's original plan was not present, when Adam and Eve's purpose of government was intimacy with them. But because of man's sin, at the time of Moses, the Lord distinguished one tribe out of the twelve in all to be his intercessors.
That tribe was that of Levi, to whom he assigned to be his servant priests and intermediaries between God and his people.
Exodus 19:5-6 (NIV): 5 If now you are completely obedient to me, and fulfill my pact, will be my exclusive property among all nations. Although all the earth belongs to me, 6 you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
According to this word of God, from the generations of the Levites the lineage of priests would emerge, and only they could be before the divine presence. Because the rest of the people had not assumed the position of being next to the Lord to live in obedience to Him.
However, that promise to the Levites was a shadow of what would come with the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. With Jesus the whole church of his becomes a chosen lineage and not just some, says the word in:
1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV): But you are chosen lineage, royal priesthoodholy nation, people acquired by God, so that they announce the wonderful facts of the one who called them from darkness to his marvelous light.
Because, when Christ carried out his sacrifice on the cross, the veil of separation was rent and his shed blood opened the way to eternal life. Christ came to establish a renewed pact where there will no longer be intermediaries between God and men, other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can confidently approach
God was pleased only by grace that the promise given in the beginning to the Levites reached us to all his people through Jesus:
1 Timothy 2:5 (NLT): Well, There is a God and a Mediator who can reconcile humanity with God, and is the man Jesus Christ.
This is the good news, that now everyone who comes intimately and trustingly close to Jesus Christ has free access to the throne of grace, to the presence of God. For this, it is enough that we confess his name with our lips and be a living sacrifice, a lit altar of praise to the living God.
Hebrews 4:16 (BLPH): Let us approach, then, full of confidence to that throne of grace, sure to find mercy and divine favor at the right time.
These words should lead us to reflect on how our level of dependence on God is. If we need to resort to some device, to some person or some name that is not that of Jesus Christ to enter the presence of God.
The answer we give will obviously determine why or not there are limits to our intimacy with God. In the scriptures we can read the passage when Paul and Silas were in jail in the city of Philippi.
They there had nothing more than to be each one an altar of God and based on this both men prepared to worship, knowing that they would obtain a divine response. The praise was received by God as a fragrant and pleasant odour, so pleasing to him that the entire prison shuddered at his presence.
For an intimacy with God you have to leave Babylon
It is necessary for us to renounce and decide to leave the Babylonian world to achieve a genuine intimacy with God. In the scriptures we can see that this is an order that God gives us and that we must fulfill so that he can dwell within us.
Isaiah 48:20 (NKJV):Get out of Babylon! Flee from among the Chaldeans! Announce this with voices of joy! ¡Make it known, spread it to the last corners of the earth! Say that the Lord has redeemed Jacob, his servant!
2 Corinthians 6:17-18:17 Therefore the Lord says:-Come out from their midst, and stand apart; and do not touch the unclean; and I will receive them. 18 AND I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and my daughters. The Lord Almighty has said it.
Revelation 18:4 (BLPH): And I heard another voice from heaven saying: –Get out of it, my people, because if you become an accomplice of their sins, their punishments will also reach you.
With revelation in the spirit we must understand that God takes us out of the slavery of Egypt, of the world of sin through Jesus Christ. Despite Babylon, it is up to each one of us to make the decision to leave it.
Babylon was a civilization that devised the construction of a tower in order to reach heaven without the need of the Lord. Therefore the Babylonian world represents a spiritual system of self-sufficiency and independence from God.
This spiritual system goes against the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth. Babylon works from reason and logic, while the Kingdom of God works from faith.
Today God's command to "Leave Babylon" is to act by faith and not by logic and reason. It is in the same way to leave what is comfortable for us to follow the voice of God.
It is necessary to multiply ourselves as intimates of God
God wants the good wishes he has for his people to reproduce and multiply, that is the manifestation of his love. In the Bible we can see that Jesus intimates with his disciples and trains them for the great commission.
A commission that carries with it the mission of taking the message of Christ to the ends of the earth. Preaching the word, healing the sick, activating miracles, etc. and all this is transmitted from generation to generation.
The apostle Paul is a clear example of this teaching transmission, forming Timothy in the faith, while commissioning him to teach other brothers. Therefore the great commission entrusted by Jesus to his disciples is a chain of multiplication that should never be cut.
Based on this, we must understand that as called to be children of God, we are also part of a generation considered a link in the historical chain of the Kingdom of God manifested on earth.
We must therefore be grateful to past generations that allowed us to be in the presence of the Father today. In addition to rising as spiritual guides for future generations.
For a greater intimacy with God we invite you to read and learn here about, God's justice: what is it and what does it consist of?, because although it is true that all humanity was counted as righteous before God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We can only enjoy the goodness of God's justice if we establish it in our lives.
